NEW YORK – The Brady Manek train got going early Thursday night, and his North Carolina teammates hopped on board for the eventful and prosperous ride.
Manek seemingly toyed with the ACC’s top defensive program over the last decade, scoring in multiple ways as the Tar Heels cruised to a 63-43 victory over Virginia in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament at Barclays Center.
For some reason, Virginia left Manek open early, opting to double-down hard on UNC big man Armando Bacot. It was a reasonable game plan given that Bacot ripped apart the Cavaliers for 29 points and 22 rebounds in Carolina’s 16-point win over UVA in January.
But by doing so, Manek was often unguarded or lightly gaurded, and with his skill at finding seams, creases, and spots getting open, the Wahoos had a tough time adjusting. And when they more emphasized stopping the 6-foot-9 sharpshooter, he simply put the ball on the floor and created his own buckets.
“Yeah, I was making shots but they were finding me on back cuts, picking and popping, just getting to an open spot,” Manek said. “Caleb (Love), RJ (Davis), Leaky (Black), even Armando hit me with a back door pass and just everybody playing well, playing together, playing tough.”
Manek scored 11 of UNC’s first 21 points on the strength of a strong put-back layup and a trio of three-pointers. Then he scored 11 points over the final 8:43 of the half. The prettiest basket came on a left baseline drive with a few seconds remaining for a 33-13 Carolina (24-8) halftime lead. He got to the rim and converted just before the horn sounded.
Manek’s emotion after he scored and scored and scored had an effect on the Wahoos, but also infused his teammates and himself. He has shown more exuberance of late, and has opened up more about being a part of Carolina basketball.
“You know, coming into North Carolina, I knew we had really good fans, really good program, a lot of support behind us,” he said. “I didn't realize it was this big. It was one of the coolest things to be a part of, and I can't be more thankful than I already am. It's unbelievable.”
The 14th all-time leading scorer in Oklahoma history was unbelievable. In fact, he alone was beating Virginia not just at halftime 19-13, but well into the second half. It wasn’t until Virginia scored on a Jayden Gardner layup cutting UNC’s lead to 41-20 with 14:36 left to play when the Wahoos had finally surpassed Manek’s output.
While he personally outscored UVA 25 minutes into the game, Manek actually said he didn’t know when asked about it following the game. But his confidence and the obvious feel for how the game was going, he wasn’t all that surprised.
“No, I didn't know it,” he said, before cracking a sort-of smile. “But now that you say it, it sounds about right.”
Nothing Manek does surprises Black. The assists, the rebounding, the increasingly rugged defensive play, the teammate? Black knew what was in Manek’s bag a long time ago, and he’s thrilled the rest of the hoops world has fully discovered what Manek is all about on the court.
“You guys looked at him as maybe just a shooter, but now you really see how dynamic (he is),” Black said. “He really can score the ball, moving without the ball, cutting. He's been a mismatch nightmare for other teams, and it looks so easy for him.”
Manek has reached the 20-point mark in three consecutive games hitting 11 of 23 shots from beyond the arc in the stretch. But he is also 3-for-26 inside the arc and has not hit the 20-point mark eight times.
And he is hitting a stride at just the right time.
